Many electronic circuits function, at least in part, to provide power to a load to thereby effectuate some intended purpose. In general, such driver circuits include a switch (such as a transistor) that can be operated to make or break a current path that includes the load and a power source.
In many such applications, short circuit conditions can accidently occur. When this happens, the driver circuit switch may be damaged due to excessive current flow. Therefore, various prior art approaches have been propsed to attempt to avoid or minimize the risk of such damage.
Depending upon the application, such prior art approaches may be undesirable or unacceptable due to functioning characteristics, complexity, cost, or response capabilities. There therefore exists a need for short circuit protection in a power driver that will respond quickly to fault conditions and protect the switch in a relatively simple and cost effective manner. It would also be desirable if such a device could be offered in integrated form in a 3 pin package.